1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle accessories and more specifically to various embodiments of a folding hard tonneau cover for pickup trucks.
2. Description of Related Art
Tonneau covers are a popular accessory for pickup trucks because they provide security and protection for the contents of an otherwise exposed truck bed. There are several types of tonneau covers including hard folding tonneau covers, soft tonneau covers, hard retractable tonneau covers, and fibreglass lid or cap-style tonneau covers. Hard folding tonneau covers are designed to provide security and weather protection for the contents of a truck bed at a reasonable price. They are substantially more secure than products of the lower priced category of soft tonneau covers, and strategically priced below the more versatile and expensive categories known as hard retractable tonneau covers and fibreglass lids and caps.
A common characteristic of hard folding tonneau cover systems is that they all comprise a series of flat rigid panels positioned in parallel and contiguous relationship and extending across the width of a truck bed from bed-rail to bed-rail. These panels are connectively joined to one another by hinging means of various designs creating a continuous and movable protective covering over the truck bed. In order for a user to open a typical hard folding tonneau cover and gain access to the truck bed, the user must manually activate the cover system's release mechanism. Currently, most of these devices first require the user to lower the truck bed tailgate in order to gain access to the release mechanism. This process can be quite difficult and inconvenient if the operator happens to have one hand occupied with a cargo item or items intended for placement within the truck bed.
Another common characteristic of existing hard folding tonneau systems is the way they are manipulated. After the operator lowers the tailgate and activates the release mechanism at the rearward-most edge of the rearward-most panel, the operator lifts the panel by its back edge while the panel's forward edge rotates at the hinge point which connects the panel to the adjacent forward panel. The lifted panel is then folded over and onto the adjacent forward panel. With the rearward-most panel now folded onto the adjacent forward panel, the adjacent forward panel can then also be released by a similar mechanism at its rearward-most edge and both panels can be lifted and rotated together. Some of these cover designs fold one panel on top of the other as previously described, and then the stack of folded panels can then be folded up and secured in a vertical position immediately behind the cab of the truck. This vertical panel storage position provides almost full access to the bed of the truck, and is very useful when necessary to accommodate, for example, a large object which would otherwise extend upward beyond the plane of the cover thereby conflicting with the cover if it were to be extended across the truck bed. However, when the panels are folded up and stored in a vertical position behind the cab of the truck, the rear window of the cab is completely obstructed and use of the center mounted rear view mirror is virtually eliminated. The third brake light (brake light mounted above the back window of the cab) is also obstructed in some cases, which could be considered a compromise of safety and/or may in fact be a violation of traffic laws/ordinances. Thus, a more elegant solution is needed.
Some of these cover designs such as the Fold-A-Cover device and a variation of a Solid-Fold device called Encore, also include a means to release the forward-most panels. These designs permit access to the front portion of the truck bed (nearest the cab) without having to release and fold up all of the rearward panels. However these designs do not permit the entire cover to be folded up and stored in the vertical position adjacent to the cab and therefore do not provide complete access to the truck bed unless the cover is completely removed, which can be very inconvenient or impractical depending upon the circumstances.
While some of the products described above can only be opened from the tailgate, and others allow access from the front, and some permit vertical storage behind the cab, all of these hard folding tonneau cover systems have one thing in common: they require the operator to lift and fold a series of panels in order to gain access to the truck bed. Accordingly, this requires the operator to be of sufficient height and strength to perform these tasks in order to effectively use any of these hard folding cover systems.
Further, it is important to note that to safely drive with the cover in a partially or fully opened position, all of the above described covers require a secondary means of securing or latching the open panels on both sides of the vehicle to prevent them from flopping in the wind, falling down, or breaking. These secondary latching or securing means add undesirable complications to the cover system.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved folding hard tonneau cover that solves the problems outlined above. To that end, by comparison to the above described products, the present invention was designed to greatly simplify the operational use of a hard folding tonneau cover making the cover a more user friendly application, and to provide truck owners with expanded features and benefits.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. However, in view of the hard folding tonneau covers in existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious to those persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how the identified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner.